Meanwhile, Paul Simpson claims to be the “proudest Englishman in the world” after guiding England to the FIFA U20 World Cup final.

“I thought it was a performance worthy of winning any game and to do it in the semi-final of the World Cup against a team like Italy is a really big achievement,” Simpson told Sky Sports News HQ.

“I don’t think there’s an Englishman anywhere in the world who’s as proud as I am. I’m delighted.

“We were confident there was enough time; if you’re going to concede a goal, conceding that early gives you plenty of time to get back into the game. We just had to stay calm and stick to the game plan, which we thought would be effective.

“I thought for the full game –if you take away that little lapse in concentration and you have to give them credit because it was a wonderful finish – the players were magnificent, from the goalkeeper to those who came off the bench.

“They kept their composure. We knew Italy set up to defend; we knew if we could get crosses into the box we would cause problems and we knew if we could get things going across the six-yard box, the goalkeeper wasn’t dominant at collecting the ball.”

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Everton forward Ademola Lookman has been included in the England final squad for the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in South Korea.

Lookman, who is also eligible to represent Nigeria, has yet to indicate his interest in playing for the country where his father was born.

Other players with Nigerian roots in the squad are Liverpool duo of Ovie Ejaria and Sheyi Ojo, Tottenham Hotspur’s Josh Onomah and Chelsea’s Dominic Solanke and Fikayo Tomori.

Lookman signed for Everton on January 5 2017 for a fee of £7.5m rising to £11m on a four-and-a-half year contract. He made his debut for the Toffees 10 days later.

England’s first World Cup clash comes against Argentina on May 20, before they take on Guinea on May 23. They round off their Group A fixtures against the Korea Republic on May 26

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The National Technical Director of Nigeria Football Federation, Bitrus Bewarang, says the Federation wants to persuade 19-year-old Everton FC striker Ademola Lookman to play for Nigeria rather than England.

Lookman was born in England but can play for Nigeria through his parents.

He has already played for the England Under-19s and U-20s but can switch allegiances because he is yet to play for the senior side.

He said, “He has Nigerian parents and we’d need to speak to him first.”

Lookman moved to Everton from Charlton earlier this month in a deal that could eventually cost £11 million (about N5.5 billion).

He made a goal scoring debut in the side’s 4-0 win over Manchester City on Sunday and has caught the attention of Bewarang.

“I saw him against Manchester City and I was excited to see a young player of Nigerian descent shine. So, I thought why not,” said Bewarang. “It is the duty of the national coach (Gernot Rohr) to invite players to the national team, but we will help him check Lookman’s eligibilty.’’

Nigeria have previously succeeded in snapping up former England youth internationals like Sone Aluko, Victor Moses, Shola Ameobi and Alex Iwobi for the Super Eagles.

Bewerang, who succeeded the late Shaibu Amodu as NFF’s technical director in July, is hoping that such an illustrious list could help convince Lookman to play for the three-time African champions.

He said, “We’ve managed to get players like Moses and Iwobi in the past and Lookman will be a great addition to the national team if we got him,” he said.

“We have a young side. The new coach is building a strong squad and having some youngsters from the Premier League (Kelechi Iheanacho and Alex Iwobi) could help his decision.

“I am not desperate to see this happen but we will give it a shot.’’

Lookman scored 12 goals in 49 games for Charlton, who were relegated to League One at the end of last season.

He won five England Under-19 caps before making three appearances for the Under-20s, scoring once.